PoLS-T: Building a Global Network of High School Physics Educators

The PoLS-T network was formed in 2020 with the goal to understand the challenges in physics education at the high school level that impact the quality of high school physics. PoLS-T has begun a productive and focused conversation leading to authentic partnerships with teachers and researchers about ways to improve the quality and access to physics. The Network approach is one where classroom educators take the lead to create space for innovation and insights from current practitioners.

Upcoming Events

CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE CLASSROOM TALKS
PoLS-T Network Talk Series and LIVE Q&A | March 2 - APRIL 27, 2024 | Saturdays - 11:00am to 12:00pm EDT
Location: Zoom with Registration Required
 

Singh Vandana Singh, PhD
Professor of Physics and Environment, Framingham State University
April 27, 2024 | 11am-12pm EDT
Register NOW

Talk Title: Beyond the Greenhouse Effect: Climate Change and Social Justice 

Summary: Climate Change is part of a complex of global social-environmental problems that pose an existential threat to humanity and the biosphere. Unfortunately, we also live in an age of massive greenwashing, without good evaluative frameworks for so-called solutions.  It is imperative that our students are able to think critically and ethically about climate change and climate solutions so that they can be inspired to take wise action. Yet, scholars agree, broadly speaking, that mainstream education has failed us.  An important reason for this is that the climate problem transcends conventional educational frameworks.  It is a richly complex problem that spans large scales of space and time, it is inherently interdisciplinary and it is centrally concerned with issues of justice and equity.  How to embrace these essential aspects despite our siloed education system?  This talk describes the development of a justice-centered transdisciplinary pedagogy of climate change in the context of a general physics classroom in which stories serve as jump-off points for explorations at the intersection of science, society and justice.

Bio: Vandana Singh is a theoretical particle physicist by training and a professor of physics and environment at Framingham State University.  For the past fifteen years she has been working on a re-visioning of the climate crisis at the nexus of science, society and meaningful action, and has developed an always-in-progress transdisciplinary, justice-centered climate pedagogy for her general physics classes that has wide applicability across disciplines.  She leads the Education Working Group of My Climate Risk, a Lighthouse Activity of the World Climate Research Programme, which seeks to make climate science information meaningful and actionable for communities on the ground.  She is the author of Teaching Climate Change: Science, Stories, Justice (Routledge, January 2024). 
 

PAST TALKS

Monday, April 1, 2024, 6 - 7PM EDT
Harvard's PoLS-T Coffee Hour for High School Physics Teachers
Guest: David Wirth, Physics Teacher, Millennium High School, Goodyear, AZ
and PolS-T Climate Change in the Physics Classroom Talk Series speaker

Wirth David Wirth
Physics Teacher, Millennium High School, Goodyear, AZ
March 23, 2024 | 11am-12pm EDT
Watch David Wirth's Talk

Talk Title: Powering Clean Power Generation in the Physics Classroom

Summary: Carbon emissions from electrical power plants are responsible for a large part of our anthropogenic greenhouse gasses.   To promote and educate students about clean energy, David recently responded to a call by The Physics Teacher for articles related to  “Climate Change and Sustainability in the Intro Physics Classes”.  David wrote an article titled “Wind and Sun” which was published in September, 2023.  In this article, David describes several low cost and hands-on activities he uses in his high school classroom to help students to better understand clean power generation and how to make this topic relevant and interesting.   In this talk, David will expand on this article and give some additional insights, activities and student experiences.  David  will also discuss some strategies he uses to increase student engagement and motivation.   Those who attend will walk away with several activities and projects they can use immediately.  All are invited to contribute by asking questions or sharing their own thoughts and ideas on how to teach this interesting and relevant topic.
Bio: David Wirth is a high school physics teacher at Millennium High School in Goodyear, AZ and has taught for 32 years.  David attended Arizona State University where he received his bachelors and then several years later a masters degree with an emphasis on physics modeling pedagogy.   David continues to work towards creating an environment in his classroom that is friendly, thought provoking, hands on and challenging. He’s written several grants in order to obtain the technology and tools that allow his students to be successful in the physics lab. David also strives to get his students involved in activities outside of the classroom that are relevant to physics. He co-founded a district wide STEM competition and showcase which has now run successfully for 14 years.  David started a Science Olympiad Club and a Rocket Club on his campus and has his students compete in the AAPT Quiz Bowl and Photo Contest annually. 
David is presently a ASAP STEM Fellow in Arizona with the intent of promoting STEM in Arizona. .  David was the National PhysTEC teacher of the year in 2021 and the Arizona GCOI  teacher of the year in 2023. David and his wife Beckie had the opportunity to raise 6 beautiful children and now enjoy visiting them in various parts of the world.  They also  love spending time with their grandchildren and teaching them about the joys of physics.

 

Mark Windschitl
Professor of Science Education, University of Washington
March 2, 2024 
Watch Mark's Talk on YouTube
PoLS-T Resources shared by Mark
Mark’s Website

Talk Title: Locating physics teaching within the landscape of climate change: How we can plan for our own learning and avoid being overwhelmed

Summary:  In this session, Dr. Mark Windschitl will share ways for teachers to imagine the bigger picture of climate change, for the purpose of identifying where their own curricula could contribute to deep student understandings of this global phenomenon. Climate change can be intimidating to introduce into one’s classroom, at any level, and physics educators can benefit from conversations about what big ideas might be built into lessons and in what contexts. Climate solutions like sustainable energy and smart buildings are known to involve more STEM concepts than the problems themselves, which can open up unexpected avenues for student engagement. We will also discuss professional learning activities to develop our climate literacy and how this can help us be more purposeful in planning for student experiences that are coherent and meaningful to them. Dr. Windschitl will share resources for professional development activities, websites, and ideas for learning together. We’ll finish by discussing what the right “grain size” of climate change teaching (lessons, units, dedicated courses) can be for participants in different situations.

BIO:  Dr. Mark Windschitl is a professor of Science Teaching and Learning at the University of Washington. His new book on climate change education was released in the fall of 2023: Teaching Climate Change: Fostering Understanding, Resilience, and Commitments to Justice (Harvard Ed Press). The companion website to the book can be found here: The Climate Change Educator. He is also the lead author of Ambitious Science Teaching (2018, Harvard Ed Press). His research has appeared in The American Educational Research Journal, Teachers College Record, Cognition and Instruction, Phi Delta Kappan, Science Education, and in white papers commissioned by the National Research Council and the National Academy of Science. He was a member of the National Research Council’s Committee on Strengthening and Sustaining Teachers. He also consults with informal educational institutions like The American Museum of Natural History, The Bronx Zoo, Brooklyn Botanical Garden, New York Hall of Science, and The Staten Island Zoo.